PSA Shitroen Shenanigans - C4GP a river dirchy or should that be Oh rev wahh! p4

[jonathan_dyane]

I think all diesels are interference.

[rainagain]

I think all diesels are interference.

This, the compressions ratios are higher than petrol so every modern diesel I've heard of is interference.

[richardthestag]

Mrs Thestag has been moaning more than usual but this time it has been because of the C4 leccy windows rather than anything to do with me.

 

I bought a spare switch anticipated sealed for life units, plus mrs thestag like to drive a) with music on with windows open. hooligan she is also out 23h of the day. so either I fix it while she sleeps or I find a way to fix it in the 4 minutes that she is not using the car in day light hours.

 

Bought a used switch of the bay for a wedge!

 

removing old switch is piss easy, and no that is not Mrs thestags butter icing spatula

 

And operation was resumed..

 

looking at the old switch, like you do. well you might not but i do. it is held together by plastic clips, nothing is sealed for life.

 

dismantled it to its component parts, cleaned the electric contacts up with a pencil rubber, reassembled and now I have two working switches. bugger

 

 

[richardthestag]

Matt thestag, #1 son, was complaining that his car was all hanging down at the front. refused to admit that he had hit anything.

 

it was looking a bit sad though. cut through the dozen tie wraps that had replaced the psa plugs to hold the front bumper and inner wings on

 

Insisted that Matt helped, which he did so by taking the piss out of my beer gut and playing with his phone. Made him get on the floor to help remove it which caused the correct level of irritation to satisfy me

 

Found the washer bottle hanging from the electrics. "ah is that why my washers dont work" Matty boy asks. Still denying that he has nudged anything at all.

 

Remounting the washer bottle was a piece of piss, bending brackets that are made from cheese and then securing them back in place.

 

Alas the pump is open circuit so another has been purchased. as has a couple of dozen psa plugs to replace the tie wrap fetish thing that is going on.

 

re secured the bumper so be can smoke around in it for a few days 

[Dirk Diggler]

Pumps always fail on these; don't be tempted by one from a breakers, they're €12 on micksgarage.ie

[richardthestag]

cheers, yep going for new, access is surprisingly easy

[dieselnutjob]

if it's any consolation we have three cars and as of Friday all three were knackered:-

Jag: 5 month old discs seriously warped and AC refrigerent AWOL

Freelander: leaking coolant

604: crank oil seal leaking and hardly running

 

On Saturday morning I took the discs off and got Eurocarparts to swap them.  They wouldn't swap the pads and I wondered if 5 month old pads could be reused on new discs.  Fortunately it seems to be fine.  I also went to visit the mechanic who is going to change the AC condenser and found out that the one that he ordered won't fit.  It seems that Hella's parts database is wrong.  A diesel XJ condenser appears to be hard to find and most of the parts sellers are selling Hella ones...

 

In the afternoon are started tearing into the Freelander and as I thought this was the problem

 

Unfortunately these thermostats are a right b@&$d to remove as the thermostat is larger then the gap between the engine and the engine mount support (part of the body shell).  Anyway after jacking up the engine and using a ratchet strap to pull it over a bit it came out.

 

Anyway the leak seems fixed.

 

The engine needs to come out of the 604....

[richardthestag]

updatez on the 307

 

Needed to fit the washer pump, car has been on sorn because Mattyboy thestag spent his £16.68 RLF money on pringles and full fat Doctor Pepper.

 

He had a nasty Friday of A levels so I took pity on him, taxed his car and today fixed the washer pump, the nearside wing mounting and fixed all the inners in with plugs rather than cable ties and bit of old wool.

 

Bumper cover is off in a jiffy

 

small creature wanted to help

 

Washer pump in and connected

 

 

squirting is resumed

 

PSA plugs come from PRoChina ... predictably... but they cost pennies

 

 

Splash shield reinstalled

 

and secured

 

next is the plastic wing and bumper mounting, the front edge of the wing has been flapping about like Katie Hopkins pants since way before 83C ownership. Reason was because of poor driver skills bending the support and breaking the original mount

 

Headlamp had to be removed because captive bolt was spinning

 

2nd hand jobby was bought from ebay breaker for an Ayrton. fits and secures the wing, yay

 

Headlamp back in

 

bumper secured and undertray refitted, job done, and you certainly have been

 

 

 

[bub2006]

My washers are atrocious on mine. Are they the fine mist or just two jets per side? Mine makes a weird noise then it barely dribbles on screen. Not sure if blocked or pump gone. I've took hoses off jets but not looked at bottle yet

[chaseracer]

^ FNARR.

 

[bub2006]

Behave David

[ruffgeezer]

Knackered flimflam valve most likely Daz.

[richardthestag]

Drove the Golden Turd, as we affectionately know Mrs Thestags C4 Grand Picasso, last night and it drives like shit!

 

Mrs Thestag says it always drives that way, err no

 

Anyway 1.6HDi 56 plate if that means anything

 

Massive flatspot at around 1500 RPM and sluggish all the way up to 2000 RPM when it takes off.

 

When driving at speed it constantly pulls and then accelerates again, there is also a wailing whistle type noise when doing 70 on the bypass which I can hear it through the bulkhead but not with the window open! also I cannot replicate the noise in the yard by revving it up to 3k rpm, the turbo whistles but then it always has

 

I am going to have a good go over all the turbo pipework tonight and also check the crank sensor that got unceremoniously yanked out by a recent accessory belt failure.

 

Any other tips aside from “bridging the fucker”?

 

Cheers

[SiC]

I don't know that engine well but sounds like the common Diesel clogged/jammed EGR type issue.

[Dave_Q]

EGR first, check turbo for sticky vanes 2nd.

[richardthestag]

cheers chaps

 

Any experience of this stuff

 

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/engine-oils-fluids/fuel-oil-additives/wynns-diesel-egr-valve-cleaner-150ml

 

EGR valve on c4 is particularly inaccessible, shitroen seem to suggest engine out job!! c4owners have proven this not to be the case but it is a fiddle.

 

Car has 110k on it, how long to egr valves last for, I am clueless on diesel but can fix anything pez in my sleeps

[ruffgeezer]

We frequently replace egr valves in situ on these. That said they are such an arsehole to get to that it isn't worth bothering to clean them.

 

Do however get a modified clip from citroen as it makes refitting much much easier.

 

If you get stuck let me know because I could do with a giggle.

[Dave_Q]

The cleaner is snake oil, the stuff they get gummed up with is like tar/coal type stuff from a mix of oil and exhaust fumes, ain't no aerosol dissolving that.

 

Looks like you can get a new EGR valve for £50-60 on ebay, I'd be inclined to go with ruffgeezers suggestion of replacement, unless you can have it off the road for a day or two while you soak the old valve in diesel or something.

[richardthestag]

what amuses me about new parts is 

 

Citroen need mortgage details

Eurocarparts was £190

and ebay are knocking them out at £50

[Cavcraft]

Would swmbo notice if you replaced the engine with something hilarious?

Only that it had got better.

[richardthestag]

Only that it had got better.

 

something without an EGR valve hidden round the back that just makes the particles so smoll now that they are fucking up everyone's lungs

[richardthestag]

btw she abandoned it this morning!

 

Would egr sound like a siren wailing as you accelerate ?

 

Checked turbo by pulling air-inlet off and there is oil residue on the intake, I can also feel maybe a thou of play in the turbot shaft by trying to rock it with my finger tip.

 

For something that spins at a gazillion rpm should there be any play?

[Cavcraft]

Turbos notorious on these, but didn't you replace it not so long back?

[richardthestag]

october last year 

 

there is no in or out play at all, just when I try to rock the shaft side to side I can feel just the slightest click

 

tbh mrs thestag has not been good at service schedules. I really should do it myself, the original turbo was proper fucked the oil was over a year old, I did change etc but now wonder whether there was crap floating around and despite new oil, filters and turbo feed pipe it has started to wear.

 

Current option is to offload I think, too many issues mechanically and bodywork wise. just isnt worth the agro

[artdjones]

There's quite an involved procedure on these for turbo replacement.It includes taking the sump off and changing the oil strainer and cleaning out the sump hi.Also when everything is back together undoing the turbo oil return and collecting the oil for a while as the car idles.When the quantity is measured then it tells you if there is enough getting through to the turbo

These engines and turbos last fine if the correct Total oil is used at reduced intervals , otherwise forget it.

[Dave_Q]

Don't think that amount of turbo play is an issue, stuck EGR could make a whooshing noise, or could be a split boost hose or something.

[richardthestag]

I also concluded after interweb research that the turbo play is minimal that it shouldn't make a difference.

 

Anyway so hacked off was I that I went down the snake oil route. mainly because Mrs Thestag needs to get to Hemel tomorrow for work and she wasn't too happy about driving my Range Rover. 

 

It can has utter transform!!

 

no more flatspot, no more jerking like it is running out of fuel, no engine management light

 

Still whistling, definitely NOT the turbo, checked all air hoses for splits etc and all seem ok.

 

planning next steps but when the car is worth £500 at best (mainly because of all the feckin scratches, chips and dents) and she is looking to change it very soon I am reluctant to plough another £200 on a new egr valve

 

Anyway Papa Wynn buys me some time to get it sorted. it will only get fixed on the cheap

 

[Dave_Q]

The snake oil worked?

 

[SiC]

Is that the one you squirt in the intake or put in the fuel tank?

 

Squirt in the intake has half a chance of working.

[richardthestag]

The snake oil worked?

 

Snake oil hid the root cause maybe?